March 19, 2009

Got up today and grabbed Pearl for a Daddy/Daughter day, got the munchkin without even the slightest movement from Kim. I was a sneaky toddler theif, got her out of the house without waking the Mommy. I bet it was nice to wake up and have no diaper to change or crying little monster to feed first thing. I got up and packed a few things in the car:
diaper bag, cooler with juice, yogurt, and cereal bars, towels, water shoes, Pearl's floaty, sunblock, and the camera to record the day's adventures. After the car was packed I got the kid and changed her very full diaper and put her in her going out clothes and tossed her in the car with all the other stuff. Then it was off to Wekiva Springs for our Daddy/Daughter day,with swimming and other assorted  activities.
I put Pearl in her new bathing suit for the drive to Wekiva, not just because she looked super adorable in it but also so there was less changing to do once we were there. Changing Pearl in the hot sun while a nice refreshing dip in the cool water was taunting us didn't sound like too much fun at all. With her new pink one peice all I had
to do was take off her shorts and shoes and we could get in the water. The water was very crisp, and Pearl really didn't like it at first, and to be honest I didn't either, but I knew once we got used to it we'd be just fine. She would not let me put her into her boat right away, she clung to me for
dear life. Once she got used to the water a little bit floating in her boat was just fine. Simply floating turned into splashing and playing in no time, I had a very happy smiling little girl. We swam, or I should say "I swam, and she floated", for about 20 minutes, even getting our heads wet at one point. I looked over at Pearl
and the poor little girl was just shivvering away, teeth clattering and everything, and she looked at me and gave me this sort of half smile. I knew it was time to exit the spring, go dry off and walk around for a while. We got Pearl out of her wet swim clothes and back into her shorts
and t-shirt, and put all the stuff back on the stroller and headed back up to the car. We decided that we would drive down to the playground because we really weren't ready to leave yet. Pearl got to ride in the front seat through the parking lot, she really didn't know what to make of that. I think if she were able to see
out the front window it would have been more exciting for her, she is just to short to fully enjoy the front seat. We parked the car and walked the path to the playground, Pearl was instantly everywhere all at once it seemed. She was like a little miniature tornado on that playground,
she even climbed up on the equipment and played on that. She went swinging on the swings and even got in the "big kid" swing all by herself wanting to swing on that one. I decided that we would swing together on that one, and put her in the "little kid" swing for er solo swing. From the bench on the side
of the playground I could see all nooks and crannies, so I sat there and let her explore all on her own. Every once and a while she would look over at me to make sure I was still there and proceed to wander around and discover new things. Each look back to me had a longer interval between the glances,
as if she just new I would be there when she looked again, and each look was accompanied by a little smile. She climbed up on the main apparatus of the playground a second time, this time ascending all the way to the top where the big slide starts it's journey to the ground. I was sitting at the bottom of the slide taking pictures
of Pearl playing at the top, and suddenly she just went to the summit of the slide and let go, she slid all the way down to me. I had no idea that she would slide all by herself, we had slid together earlier when we first arrived to the playground. I was in shock, and so very proud of my brave little monkey. I was caught completely of guard and did not capture the slide on camera, so I placed her back at the top with the hopes that she would repeat her act of bravery, and she did just that!

After all the climbing, swinging, and to my pleasant suprise sliding we decided to return to the car to get ready to leave and go home. We had a little snack in the car before we headed out, and as we were leaving I decided to drive around and explore a little bit.
Pearl was out for the count before we even got over to the campground, only about 4 minutes from the springs. She slept almost the whole way home, waking up when we arrived at Walmart to get dinner. Pork loin stuffed with sausage and wrapped with bacon, with mashetopatoes and green beans...

The End

Later in the evening after a bath and being put into her PJ's Pearl decided to put a pair of shorts on over her jammies. Then she wanted her frog slippers on, and the pink "Disney Flair" sash around her shoulder. The result, and I think you will all agree, was too cute NOT to take a picture or 2...

March 18, 2009

I realize that it has been over a month since I last wrote on this blog, I think I qualify for the slacker of the year award. It's not that I have not had anything to write about, and it's not that I haven't had the time, I don't really know why I haven't written here for so long. May be 2 months of writing every day, which I may do again for April, made me want to take a little break. Today just happens to be a splendid day for the triumphant return of an updated blog. Pearl, our wonderful little monster, is exactly 1
and a half years old today. It's been 18 glorious months since Pearl came into our lives. She is growing up so fast, it feels like only yesterday she was being born. Sometimes it feels like I am going to wake up one day and Pearl will be graduating from High School and leaving for College. I know I exaggerate, but it really does seem to be going fast so far. I really love being a Daddy, and trying to be the best Daddy that I can be seems to slow things down a little bit sometimes. I hope Pearl knows how much I love her, I try and show it every day to make sure she knows.

Many wonderful and amazing, and a couple not so wonderful, things have started to happen since the last time I had written here. Pearl's vocabulary continues to grow at a steady pace, and her knowledge of what things are when asked (and proceeds to point at) seems to be advancing on a daily basis. For the most part Pearl is a really good kid, rarely has meltdowns in public, knows how to share when she's at the park, and listens to Mommy and I when we say no (well, most of the time anyway). She met another little girl the last time we went to the park, who was close in age to Pearl, only a month younger. They were playing with Pearl's ball together, and having a grand time passing it back and forth. That is until the other little girl didn't want to share anymore and pitched a hissy fit when Pearl wanted to take her ball back, the other little girl's Daddy had to intervene and get Pearl's ball back to her. The temper tantrum that the other little girl displayed was nothing less than super impressive.
Pearl just kinda looked at the other little girl like "Why are you being so bad over a silly ball, see how good I am". However, pushing the limits to see how far she can take things is her new game. Kim and I both knew it was coming, but knowing it's coming doesn't do a very good job to prepare you for the reality of this not so amusing game. Also, I fear that this is just an "appetizer", if you will, of what is yet to come. She is approaching 2 years old at frightening speed, at which time we get to live in the realm of the "Terrible Twos". One of her favorite games is taking something off of Kim's or my bed side table and not giving it back when we ask for it. Even going as far to start handing it to us, then pull it in close and hug it and turn her body so we can't get it. She just thinks this is the funniest thing in the world, at least that's what the smiling and laughing seems to indicate.

My Wife Kim is a stay-at-home Mommy, and as far as I can tell she really enjoys being able to do that. This is a full time job though, with no scheduled days off, no calling in sick, and no vacation time. I work a full time job (more about that later), with all of the perks I just listed. I have started trying to give Kim some time off one day a week, at least, by taking Pearl out of the house. This serves another purpose as well, Pearl and I get some Father/Daughter time together so that we can do some bonding too. We either go to the park, or go on a drive, last week we went to go visit "Aunt" Jodi because she hasn't seen her in quite some time. Today, I think I might take her over to Wekiva Springs for a swim and she can wear her new one piece suit that I got for her at Wally World the other night.I was thinking I might just bring our tent and camp

out for the night, and give Kim a night off. Wekiwa is pretty close by too, so it would be easy to hop in the car and come home if Pearl starts freaking out. The last time she was in a tent was when Kim and I got married at Bliss, and Pearl was still in her Mommy's tummy. I am not really sure how she will do in a tent, but I will never know if I don't try. 18 months seems like a fine age to start camping, and I need to get Pearl to like it because Kim is really not the camping type. Too many bugs and such for her taste, Kim's "idea of roughing it is a hotel room without a TV", that's a Kimmie quote by the way, LOL.

When I last wrote about a job it was when I got canned from Lago on the same day as the Chef and other Sous Chef, and I was on the hunt for a replacement job. I was able to get a job at this little pizza place near UCF, but that was a little ridiculous. I was working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week over there for $500 a week cash. Worked there a little over a week and what originally was supposed to be $600 a week, turned into $500, and then when it came time to pay me it was $450 total. Then they got someone new, and replaced me with someone they could pay even less. It was so much fun to be jerked around by those assholes.

A mere week later I was offered a job at the Embassy Suites at the Omaha Steakhouse in the hotel operated by Culinaire, as a line cook. I needed to find something with little or no responsibility so that it would not interfere with going to EMT training. The job is super easy and it almost feels like I am on vacation, and since starting there I have gotten nothing but compliments from the managers and co-workers. I have only had 1 steak come back to me to be cooked more that was my fault, and only 2 total steaks sent back since I started almost 3 weeks ago. People

It looks like I am going to have to take the night classes at CFFA for my EMT Training which will start on May 5th and end August 13th. I will be in class Mon, Tue, and Thur from 6pm to 10pm and on Saturday from 9am to 6pm. This is a very doable schedule for working whilst going to the training. I have not found out if I have been accepted yet but my test scores are higher than needed to gain entry into the program. To pass the ERGO test, I had to score a minimum of 75% on both the reading and math portions. My scores were: Human Relations: 77.84%, Mechanical: 88.89%, Math: 93.55%, and Reading: 80%. I really don't foresee and problems getting into the training, I tried to call today to change to the night classes and to find out if I had been accepted, but I had to leave a message, so hopefully I will hear back soon. I think the night classes will be better in the long run, I will have more time to hang out with my family and build forts with my little girl. Building forts is so much better when you have the time and energy to do it...

EDIT: There are no campsites available at Wekiwa springs, dammit!!!